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News, Page 23

National Nutrition Policy, Imperiled By Bullies

I know a guy who writes blogs rather prolifically (for which he is uncompensated, by the way). The audience for his blogs is, presumably, people interested in his opinions and his writing; why else would they be there? He writes books, too. And once, he wrote a blog in which he expressed, to this audience presumably interested in his opinion…

Indonesia prepares warships to evacuate ‘haze’ refugees

Indonesia is preparing warships as a last resort to evacuate children and others suffering from smoke inhalation from slash-and-burn fires, a minister said on Friday, as the country struggles to contain fires expected to continue for weeks. Southeast Asia has suffered for years from annual “haze” caused by forest and peat clearing across Indonesia, which has come under increasing political pressure to stop the problem, but so far to no avail. Fires this year have been helped by drier weather brought by the El Nino weather phenomenon and have pushed air pollution to hazardous levels across Southeast Asia, forcing schools to close and disrupting flights.

80 Sick, 12 in ICU After Shigella Outbreak at California Restaurant

California health officials are investigating a bacterial outbreak after at least 80 people were sickened, sending 12 of them to the intensive care unit at a hospital. An outbreak of shigella occurred at the Mariscos San Juan Restaurant on 4th Street in San Jose, California, the Santa Clara County Public Health Department said Tuesday. Individuals started to report symptoms including fever, abdominal pain and diarrhea last Saturday, health officials said.

Mexican lower house votes to lower tax on sugary drinks

Mexico’s lower house of Congress on Monday approved a proposal to cut taxes on some sugar-sweetened drinks despite concerns the move would hinder the fight against obesity in Latin America’s No. 2 economy. Mexicans are among the world’s biggest drinkers of sodas made by companies like Coca-Cola Co and PepsiCo Inc, and in 2013, the country became the first major market to tax high-calorie soft drinks, by 1 peso ($0.06) per liter. The 500-strong lower house voted 423 to 33 to give general approval to a package of fiscal measures that included a 50 percent cut in taxes on soft drinks with less than 5 grams of added sugar per 100 ml.

JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley pay most in $1.9 billion swaps price-fixing settlement

By Nate Raymond (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley and Barclays Plc will pay over half of a more than $1.86 billion settlement resolving investor claims they conspired to fix prices and limit competition in the market for credit default swaps, according to a court filing. Details of the settlement's breakdown with those and nine other banks were disclosed in papers filed late on Friday, in federal court in Manhattan, a month after the proposed deal was first announced. …

Actor Stamos charged with driving under the influence in California

(Reuters) – Actor John Stamos, star of the Fox sitcom “Grandfathered,” has been charged with driving under the influence of drugs in Beverly Hills, California, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said on Thursday. Stamos, 52, of Los Angeles, faces one misdemeanor charge stemming from his June 12 arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence, the prosecutor's office said. Stamos faces a possible maximum sentence of six months in county jail if convicted, the district attorney's office said.

Bush offers plan to repeal, replace federal health care law

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush touted on Tuesday his plan to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's health care law with one that would increase tax credits for individuals, allowing them to buy coverage protection against “high-cost medical events.”

Out of the cave and onto Facebook – the life of a modern hermit

By Neil Hall and Angus Berwick MARKET RASEN, England (Reuters) – Like any good hermit Rachel Denton rises early in the morning to tend to her vegetable garden, feed her chickens, and pray. Unlike other hermits, such as a man discovered in 2013 living in a wood in the United States having spent 27 years without any human contact, Denton has embraced the Internet age. “The myth you most often face as a hermit is that you should have a beard and live in a cave, none of which is me,” she said, sat in her simple red-brick house near Market Rasen, a Lincolnshire village ringed by rolling green countryside.